I am delighted and honored to bring this post to you as my first in a series as an official brand blogger for Old Fashioned Milk Paint. My grin stretches sea to shining sea. This paint has my heart all bundled up in its paper bags of green, natural, powdery perfection. OFMP sponsored this project by providing me with the product to complete it.

I would like to share the process of creating a beautiful shabby chic dresser using OFMP's milk​ paint and a touch of adornments. But first, let me offer a bit of history which you may also review here, http://www.milkpaint.com/about_hist..., and description of this brand of milk paint. They are the original company to bring the modern day powder formula to market as genuine milk paint. It is a true milk paint, all natural, green and non-toxic. OFMP has a lovely palette of their standard colors to choose from, and then by mixing and playing with combinations, one can create a host of shades and tones. Speaking of shades and tones, because of the natural pigmentation in milk paint, it covers with beautiful shading and has a very authentic ambiance to its finish.

Also, being true milk paint, it must be mixed with water in equal parts of paint to water ratios. It has exquisite characteristics as it coats and dries. It can stick fully to porous surfaces, or chip and crackle on non-porous surfaces. In order to ensure adhesion to non-porous or shiny surfaces, they have a great product called extra bond which gets blended into the premixed paint for the first coat.

Milk paint is self-leveling so it sets smoothly on your surface. I am telling you, this paint is the way to go. It is mesmerizing to watch as it dries and graces your piece with a unique finish unlike any other paint.

​It does need to be topcoated as it is extremely matte. If you want your piece to gather household and everyday, how shall I say it... grime for patina...then you can opt to leave it to collect memories of life around it.

I chose to refinish a very old and excellent quality tall chest made by Union decades ago. Here begins this piece's journey from marred and abandoned in its homeliness to all dressed up and waiting for somewhere to go in its new country chic finish.

​Here it sits bare and beat:

And here comes my paint hero, OFMP in Sea Green and Buttermilk to rescue it from all that dull brown:

​As I stated above, the powder must be mixed with equal portions of water and then stirred very well to diminish any lumps and release the full pigment. It will end up smooth and maybe some little bubbles from stirring as you see here. I press the lumps against the side of my container to break them down and mix in well. I am using a yogurt cup which I make several small batches of paint as I go, and then I can rinse and recycle when I am done. Keeping all things green here.

Because my surface was a bit shiny after a light sanding and wash, I added the extra bond for improved adhesion of the paint to the wood. I was not looking for chipping at this point. This is a breeze to add. Just follow instructions on the bottle.

Paint time. Here is the dresser after my first coat of the Sea Green. I was doing two coats of this because I wanted it to show through the Buttermilk after the crackling process.

​Do not be daunted or deterred after your first coat which may look disastrous. There is a little milk paint miracle which occurs with the second coat. My heart dropped to my ankles when I first used milk paint. I had never seen it nor used it on anything and was devastated when I applied the first coat and saw streaks and bare spots and a shady texture. But then. Then the magic happened when I persevered to paint the second coat. Heed my words, do not give up. It will be beautiful.

Next I scrubbed and left my handles to sunbathe while they waited their turn to be coated in OFMP's paint and then the antique crackle medium.

The crackle medium is very thick and sticky. It is pretty easy to layer on the paint and you can see the sheen so you know where you may have missed coverage which is great for being thorough.

After a two hour drying period, I began to paint the top color of Buttermilk that would activate the crackling. This was really cool to observe. The paint begins to dance right before your eyes. Luscious crackles and breaks travel along a moment after each stroke of paint. Be sure to follow the directions on how to apply the paint over the medium. It can be a little tricky at first, but not difficult.

I salivate.

I let this set for a few hours and then I began adding some decorative detailing to the drawers. For the shallower top drawer, I applied a raised stencil which I would then brush over with the two paints alternating layers to get the tone I wanted. The first step is to measure your stencil to center it. I like to use the pull holes as a guide.

Once you have your stencil in place, tape it down with painter's or frog tape. I use spackle or joint compound to create my raised stencils. I use a credit card to smooth it over the entire stencil. Once fully covered and fairly leveled, let sit for just a minute and then​ slowly lift tape and pull back the stencil.

Pretty nifty, right? Now be patient and let this fully dry to hardness. Then you can paint it and topcoat it.

I was also using some tissue paper to decoupage the centers of the rest of the drawers. To achieve a tattered edge which is more complementary to a shabby chic appeal, I use a small paint brush and dab water along the edges pulling them away.

​After all the crafty fun, here is my scrumptiously shabby country chic dresser made perfect with Old Fashioned Milk Paint products.

Crackles, chips, shades and tones...perfection.

Though OFMP provided product for me to complete this project, all opinions are sincerely my very own.

Surely you have heard the expression, "it's like watching paint dry," and the connotation is quite negative and punitive. Well, well, well, whoever coined that phrase must never have sat and watched milk paint dry. It's a blast. It's captivating. It's anything but boring or sufferable. I will watch milk paint dry any day of the week. With pleasure.

Who is Old Fashioned Milk Paint? "In 1974, after much experimentation, we recreated an old Milk Paint formula to provide an authentic finish for our primary business of building reproduction furniture. Since then we have sold our paint to professionals who are either restoring original Colonial or Shaker furniture, making reproductions, or striving for an interior design look that is both authentic and beautiful. Milk Paint is now gaining an even wider usage because it contains only ingredients that are all-natural and will not harm the environment. Our authentic real milk paint is truely a "green paint" that comes in20 colors." Source: http://www.milkpaint.com/about.html.

Milk Paint - Awesome stuff, let me tell you. An all natural, matte, rich toned, paint which brings a whole new look and feel to what it coats. Often unpredictable on any particular surface, an additive may be used with it to promote more solid stable coverage, but the raw nature of how the paint responds on certain surfaces is what makes it truly unique in a world of basic intact coverage outcomes. In contrast, to achieve a chippier finish, you may place oil or vaseline in splotches where you want the paint to adhere minimally or not at all. And its terribly fun to experiment with. Source: just my thoughts.

Shabby Chic - The casual, airy, cottagey style of decor which combines pastel and muted hues, whites, florals and other delicate patterns with an appreciation for time-worn, well-loved and perfect imperfections of items. It embraces the ragamuffin, banged around aspects of items by spiffying them up and bringing out their tattered elegance. Kind of like cozy country French farmhouse meets curbside cast-offs. Adore it. Makes my eyelids bat to the beat of my swelled little pitter-pattering heart. Need a house full of it. Source: just my thoughts.

Storage - You know- anything that you can shove your junk into to hide it or for safer keeping than the floor. Source: just my thoughts.

I whipped out my beat up, eh well-loved, bags of milk paint and some super fancy paint paraphernalia: a notorious red cup repurposed for milk paint mixing (from party to paint it holds its liquids with plastic class), a foam cup for water and a free store paint stir. I'm now ready to play artist and swish up my consistencies and colors.

I can earnestly state I do not believe there is a paint job that milk paint cannot handle, whether in its original formula or with the extra bond added to it to assure a more uniform finish. The effects of milk paint's natural formula can effortlessly epitomize the shabby chic look. Skip tedious sanding and hacking off paint to achieve chic shabbiness. I say let the paint do the hard stuff and we can do the refining.

This poor little chest I redid using it had been tortured with a coat of oil based paint over latex, which is never a good idea if not properly prepared first. I sanded then stripped then stripped again. And again. Then sanded again. Guess what? It still wasn't all off. There was a thin patchy sheet of white. I knew I could use it to my advantage because I had wanted to layer the Sea Green milk paint over white with a wash over that anyway. So I stopped trying to widdle it all off, and went with the remains. I was banking on the milk paint doing its special thing and crackle, chip and peel its way to unique beauty.

OFMP got it blazing right with the green-gray-blue tone of Sea Green. I grew up vacationing at my grandparents' house on the Cape, and this color is exactly like the ocean off the coast of the infamous elbow and up the stretch. It brings the ocean right into my house. With this color in the room, I can gaze my way beachside on a sandy towel, a salty breeze tickling my skin while munchkins laugh and yelp in scared thrill as waves surge and smash around their little scurrying feet. Even if I'm really in my house at my desk typing a post.

My grandfather used to thrift and paint a variety of items, and some he passed on to me which regrettably have gotten lost through the decades. I am not sure what type of paint he used, but he had great colors-greens, blues, turquoises, yellows. I feel that may well be how my love of painted wood and furniture sprouted, in a little cape on the Cape full of antiques and painted woodwork, mirrors, toys, trunks and cabinets. One of my treasured times was going to the dump 'store.' All sorts of tossed goodies were left in a shed to be rehoused by fellow dump goers. When I save a furniture life or paint things, I think Grandpa would be proud. I picture him bent over his work table with his brush in his hands swiping a pretty aqua over a new find or crisp white over a simple toy house he made for me. Then he passes the brush to me to have a go at it. Just maybe, he created this 'nope, paint it' thrift-picking monster.After doing a couple of coats of the Sea Green and waiting for it to make its impression, I washed over it with OFMP's Buttermilk to give the Sea Green a hazy, weathered, driftwood look. The creamy pale yellow brushed over the green gave it a lovely grain texture and tone resembling a log one could find washed ashore seaside after a long bout with sun, sand and saltwater.

The original design idea I had was to decoupage floral paper on all three insets of the drawers. Then when I saw one of the drawers getting its crackle and chipping boogie on, I decided to only paper the top and bottom drawers. Until the crackly yum was spreading like a delicious epidemic over all the drawers. I decided to only paper the middle drawer. However, I simply could not bring myself to cover even just the one. After all the paper demos I shuffled around, I decided to stencil all three drawers right over the chips and cracks instead.

I thought the stencil would lend authentic old charm with the fading and feathered-edge nuances it has to enhance the quirkiness of milk paint and shabby chic styling. The blend of the three make for a little piece of heaven in a room.

As I slightly alluded to above, shabby chic is one of my ultimate favorite styles of decorating; rich in old-fashioned simplicity, reminiscent of time saved in that sentimental bottle full of memories and journeys to be displayed through decor, of flowy rosette laced sundresses on steamy summer days, of brimming hope chests slowly creaking open beheld by wondrous eyes. It is delicate in its appeal, romantic in its gesture, and evokes a nostalgic bliss. Without getting too mushy, it plain old makes me want to meander through a meadow of waist high wild flowers. Or sprawl on a quilt under a willow tree with wicker baskets toting jars of lemonade, petite pastries, and embroidered linen napkins with which to pat the powdered sugar from my lips. Enough. I'll take my invisible dandelion wreath off my head...my sentimental stroll has wound its way back to my little chest awaiting its dressing. I felt the stenciling would add a touch of genuine chicness to the perfect shabbiness the milk paint gave it.

Considering the color palate that exudes shabby chic style, I mixed together pink, ivory, brown and bisque to create a dusty rose as a mild highlight against the green and buttermilk. The quaint, swirly floral pattern was repeated across the drawer faces, then I added a single flower down the middle using only a bisque/ivory combination.

The white was showing through perfectly where the milk paint had chipped off or crackled apart. I get sort of giddy watching it transform before my expectant eyes. It is delightful. But I didn't always think so. The first time I used it I thought I destroyed my antique desk. I was so upset but trudged on with applying another coat and voila. A luscious bounty of crackling and chipping occurred.

While it sat to smooth out and flake up, a butterfly stopped by for a visit. It slowly and gracefully spread then raised its delicate wings as it sat. The dainty dots on its wings were a tealish green and ivory-white which matched the chest. Such beauty coming to rest on this little piece.

After a coat of clear wax which enriched the lovely tones, I wanted to make it a smidge more shabby by slightly dirtying (I mean antique-ing) it up like it had been tucked in a farmhouse for a few generations gathering the gentle effects of time and use. A rub of dark wax topped it all off. Time for furniture jewels. Not too flashy, not too dull, but diamond cut clear glass knobs were just right. And completion.

My milk paint gives a first thought, its - OMG What's this??My milk paint gives a second thought, its - This finish I could kiss!Oh I love to use it everyday, and if you ask me why I'll say... 'cause OFMP has a waywith crackly chipping or smooth paint.

Had to.

It is an honor to participate in this endeavor to share Old Fashioned Milk Paint with others that they may find it as endearing as so many already do. Up until about a year ago, I was neither aware of OFMP nor had seen the awesome effects of milk paint knowing it was from that, and I live only about one hour away from their company. I wish I had discovered them a couple of decades ago. A round about turn of paint researching led me to the New England based company, practically in my backyard here in Massachusetts. I hope OFMP gains greatly deserved exposure from customers' tried and true testimonies of their enchanting products.

I went a tad photo crazy, but I seriously could not help it. I just love this stuff, it gives me big toothy grins. Every angle I looked at had such chippy, shabby chic crackling amazingness going on that I had to capture it for all to see it. So, I apologize for the abundance, but I'm only a little bit sorry.

Chopsticks and tin can drumroll....

I happily present the little three drawer Enchanting Sea Shabby Chic Chest; I had fun staging this by showing the versatility of a milk painted piece used as shabby chic storage. First it is styled in a vintage/cottage way, next in a classic/updated way, then a cozy kid's room way. You are certainly welcome to put your personal twist on how it could be used. It is ready to serve a variety of pretty storage needs. Compact enough to slip into a small space, yet roomy enough to tuck items safely away. Please click the images for full size photos.

Displayed with a cottage-vintage style for a hall, foyer, sitting/family room setting-Braided rug, Antique lamp, Vintage books and Antique pitcher as a vase

Got a shared space? Place this between the beds as double-duty nightstand. A guest staying for a few days? Plenty of space for a few outfits in here. Need a vanity in a bathroom? Compact storage at your finger-tip towels with this one. Need an extra set of pretty drawers in any room? Shabby perfection to the rescue...anywhere, all the time.

Displayed in an updated traditional way -Sheepskin rug, French tin basin with books, Hobnail milk glass lamp with ribbon shade

Here is a cozy, cheery shabby chic little girl's space fashioning. Set with shabby chic chair and lamp, toys, and books between cute bookends. The chest could be home to clothes, toys, puzzles, games...

Here are a few pictures of the process from one coat to chipping/crackling lusciousness and second coat:

Little chest made a special friend who kept roaming over it so I snapped some photos. See how mesmerizing milk paint is? Even a butterfly was captivated:

The wonder of wax - the dustier green/buttermilk part is uncoated and the deeper color areas are enriched by the clear wax:

One other funny episode happened regarding milk paint while meeting with clients in regard to another piece. The gentleman glanced over at the chest, saw the chipping and inquired if it was next to be sanded. I almost snorted holding back my giggle because that is the reaction I always get when someone who has not yet seen the beautiful peculiarities of straight-up milk paint sees the trail it has blazed. He was very intrigued and sincere in his fascination with the finish when I replied that the chips and crackling were actually the desired effect. A little later he stepped over to it again, and I saw him with his face about four inches from the surface and his fingers grazing the top. He was studiously peering at its crazy fine features, and remarked that he had never seen anything like it. I agreed that though it is centuries old, it seems to be a bashful gem in the boisterous paint market of the oil and latex based. Let's hope that changes through exposure like this contest. After some contemplation of the splendidly curious finish he witnessed, he declared it to be really cool. As do I.

Good Sunday Morning! I'm so excited and grateful to humbly announce (isn't that an oxymoron?) that one of my pieces was just selected to be on Old Fashioned Milk Paint's "Hometalk" page! I was contacted and asked if I would be willing to let them feature it because they loved it. That was completely wonderful to hear. They chose it to show off the fabulous chippiness that can be achieved with milk paint which is just one of its fine features and renowned characteristics. "Heck yeah! Post them all!" ...I mean "It would truly be my honor to have you feature my pieces to help promote OFMP's luscious product results. Please do, thank you so much." See, milk paint's double-natured influence in action.Let me tell you first hand that milk paint is both naughty and nice, but always awesome. It can be like a two-year-old's temper tantrum or a debutant's demure debut. I love it for this! OFMP is fantastic. I am in the middle of doing a small dresser in Sea Green, and I cannot wait to see what happens-it's always a bit of a mystery without using the extra bond, but that's half the joy. And it never disappoints in the end.

Milk paint is unlike any other in that it is all natural, acts wonderfully bratty at times, is unpredictable, has no vicious fumes so it can be used indoors (some people paint their walls with it, not I--yet), gives a smooth finish to a rough (often ugly) start, and deepens its tones deliciously once waxed or oiled for a topcoat. In the beginning phase of it, you may want to pitch it in the trash. You may think your piece is irrevocably, irreversibly ruined. It may look watery, spotty, blotchy, runny and even sheer with the first coat. Sounds like a disaster. But hang on. The magic happens once you stick it out and apply another coat. The transformation happens as the paint seizes control and does its thing. The paint itself plucks the creative process right out of your and into its own hands. You are left to watch and wait in wonder of what will become of your project. It is quite captivating to witness the evolution of a thin liquid into a smooth, self-leveling, hardening, flaking, crackling, chipping finish. Just awesome.

I am working on a small dresser now that is going to be painted Sea Green by OFMP. Anxious to see what happens! Please note that because of its rather random nature, extra bond may be added to milk paint to give it more adhesion, stability and predictability for those whom are not really into the wait and see element of using it. This piece is available for purchase if interested!Thank you very kindly, Evey, for picking and posting my little (tall) dresser!http://www.hometalk.com/8699497/what-is-milk-paint-ofmp‪#‎FFFC‬

This one tested me. From the design and color agony to the paint fail then recovery to the rain almost destroying it. Twice. I wanted to work outside so badly and there was no rain in the forecast so I dragged it out. All was fine until sprinkle squalls started. Then I was like Hercules hoisting that big dresser into the garage and shot-putting the drawers back into place before an ultimate disaster. Burn me once, shame on the weatherman. Burn me twice, I have no one else to blame but myself, so shame on me. To the weatherman's defense it is glorious New England. And to my defense, I wanted to enjoy the sun that decided to call it quits in the middle of my work. Twice. All is well though, and it was worth the chaos.

This is an antique five drawer tall chest painted in sea green milk paint then clear wax coated. I applied a final dark wax coat over the raised stencil, hardware and entire body which enriches the milk paint's characteristic patina. The depth and richness of the teal is actually a bit darker toned than the photos show. It is a beauty standing tall and poised. Available to grace any area of your home with its elegant presence.